Lycodonomorphus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Infraordo: Caenophidia
Superfamilia: Elapoidea

Familia: Lamprophiidae
Genus: Lycodonomorphus
Species (9): L. bicolor – L. inornatus – L. laevissimus – L. leleupi – L. mlanjensis – L. obscuriventris – L. rufulus – L. subtaeniatus – L. whytii
Name

Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger, 1843: 27

Type species: Coronella rufula Schlegel, 1837 in error [=Coluber rufulus Lichtenstein, 1823], by original designation.

References
Primary references

Fitzinger, L. 1843. Systema Reptilium. Fasciculus primus. Amblyglossae. Braumüller et Seidel: Wien. vi + 106 pp. BHL Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2021. Lycodonomorphus . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 13 February 2020.
Lycodonomorphus – Taxon details on Interim Register of Marine and Non-marine Genera (IRMNG).
Lycodonomorphus – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Südafrikanische Sumpfnattern
English: Southern African Water Snakes

Lycodonomorphus is a genus of snakes commonly referred to as African water snakes. They are small, nonvenomous snakes, with all members being endemic to Africa, especially Tanzania.[2]

Species

The following nine species are recognized as being valid.[3]

Lycodonomorphus bicolor (Günther, 1893)
Lycodonomorphus inornatus (A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854)[4]
Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther, 1862)
Lycodonomorphus leleupi (Laurent, 1950)
Lycodonomorphus mlanjensis Loveridge, 1953
Lycodonomorphus obscuriventris V. FitzSimons, 1963
Lycodonomorphus rufulus (Lichtenstein, 1823)
Lycodonomorphus subtaeniatus Laurent, 1954
Lycodonomorphus whytii (Boulenger, 1897)[5]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lycodonomorphus.
Etymology

The specific name, whytii, is in honor of British naturalist Alexander Whyte (1834–1908), who worked in Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1891 to 1897.[6]
References

EOL.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)
GBIF.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)
"Lycodonomorphus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Kelly CMR, Branch WR, Broadley DG, Barker NP, Villet MH (2010). "Molecular systematics of the African snake family Lamprophiidae, Fitzinger, 1843 (Serpentes: Elapoidea), with particular focus on the genera Lamprophis, Fitzinger 1843 and Mehelya Csiki 1903". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (3): 415-426. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.010
JCVI.org (Retrieved Mar. 22, 2010)

Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lycodonomorphus whytii, p. 285).

External links

Scale counts of Lycodonomorphus members.
"Lycodonomorphus ". NCBI Taxonomy Browser. [1]

Further reading

Auerbach RD (1987). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Botswana: Mokwepa Consultants. 295 pp.
Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Taylor and Francis, printers). 448 pp.
Boycott RC (1992). An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland, 1992; online at https://web.archive.org/web/20120914175238/http://www.sntc.org.sz/checklst/sdreptam.html.
Broadley DG (1967). "A review of the genus Lycodonomorphus Fitzinger (Serpentes: Colubridae) in southeastern Africa, with a key to the genus". Arnoldia 3 (16): 1-9.
Broadley DG, Cotterill FPD (2004). "The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot' ". African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61.
Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller et Seidel. 106 pp. (in Latin).
Fitzinger L (1826). Neue Classification der Reptilien nach ihren natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandschafts-Tafel und einem Verzeichnisse der Reptilien-Sammlung des K. K. Zoologischen Museums zu Wien. Vienna: J. G. Heubner. 66 pp. (in German and Latin).
Haagner GV (1992). "Life History Notes - Lycodonomorphus rufulus ". Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa (41): 42.
Lichtenstein MHC (1823). Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der Königl. Universität zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und Fischen. Berlin: Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss./ T. Trautwein. x + 118 pp. (in German).
Marais J (2004). A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa, Second Edition. Struik Publishers. 312 pp.
Raw LRG (1973). "A review of the dusky-bellied water snake, Lycodonomorphus laevissimus (Günther), with descriptions of two new subspecies". Annals of the Natal Museum 21 (3): 713-718. (Lycodonomorphus laevissimus fitzsimonsi nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus laevissimus nov. subsp., Lycodonomorphus laevissimus natalensis nov. subsp.)